Lunar New Year Box Office: The Biggest Week Ever

Moviegoing in China during the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday has become essential recreation for many Chinese families in recent years. The past two years in particular have each established new box office records for the highest grossing seven-day period in any single territory.

The largest daily totals occur on the first day of the Lunar New Year when heavy ticket subsidies push down prices as low as RMB 9.9 (~$1.50).

As the holiday progresses and subsidies dry out, we can see moviegoing demand dwindling, indicated by downward trajectories in both years.

In China’s social media-dominated ecosphere, word-of-mouth additionally plays a critical role. In 2016, word-of-mouth made The Mermaid a cultural phenomenon, as well as China’s all-time highest grossing film with more than $500 million in ticket sales.

Because none of 2017’s Lunar New Year releases were able to replicate that success, daily box office fall-off in 2016 was more gentle than this year. Additionally, Valentine’s Day coincided with the final day of the 2016 holiday period, giving the box office a significant boost.

About the author Jonathan Papish currently covers the Chinese film industry out of New York City, but previously spent 8 years working in China. Jonathan has been a social media and digital assistant for dGenerate Films, a distributor of Chinese contemporary independent cinema and, most recently, he covered the Chinese market for BoxOffice.com. Jonathan is also an audiovisual Mandarin to English translator and has subtitled several high-profile Mainland films and television programs.

China Film Insider reports on and writes about the people and companies making movies that soon may help to bridge the gaps in understanding between China, the United States, and the rest of the world. We work in Beijing, Los Angeles, and New York.